Homepage

Record

Authorised form of nameWatson; Sir; William (1715 - 1787)
Dates1715 - 1787
NationalityBritish
Place of birthSt John's Street, near Smithfield, London, England
Date of birth03 April 1715
Place of deathLondon
Date of death10 May 1787
Research fieldChemistry
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election09/04/1741
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
VP 1774-1776, 1782-1787
Medals and prizes:
Copley Medal 1745
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB;DSB
References:
R V Jones, 'Through Music to the Stars. William Herschel, 1738-1822' in NR 1978-9 vol 33 pp 37-56
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/20461029
CodeNA7588
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
L&P/1/416Letter, 'Electrical experiments' from William Watson to the Royal Society1745
AB/1/2/1/132Letter to James West from William Watson15 October 1768
L&P/3/346Paper, 'Of the poisonous effects of hemlock dropwort (Oenanthe)' by William Watson1758
L&P/1/347Letter, 'Of a calculus' from William Watson to Francis Wollaston1745
MM/4/84Letter from Henry Cavendish, William Watson, Benjamin Franklin and J Robertson, to the Royal Society18 November 1773
MM/11/41Notes from the minutes of meetings of the Purfleet Magazine Committee1772
IM/004816Watson, Sir Williamnd
L&P/2/547Letter, 'On platina' from J Brownrigg to William Watson4 December 1754
L&P/1/410Letter, 'Further observations concerning electricity' from William Watson to the Royal Society4 July 1745
L&P/8/122/1Letter, 'Of diving' from Anthony Forthergill to William Watson12 November 1784
L&P/3/329Letter, 'Of a contivance for the easy reading of languages' from Peter Lanthoine to William Watson13 June 1758
L&P/2/242Letter, 'An account of the cinnamon tree' from William Watson to the Royal Society21 November 1751
L&P/7/49Paper, 'An account of the blue shark' by William Watson1778
MS/391/158Power of deputy, issued by Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society, to William Watson30 December 1773
L&P/4/315Letter, 'Of the poisoning of a family by eating roots mistaken for parsnips' from J Wilmer to William Watson4 April 1766
L&P/1/378Letter, 'Electrical experiments' from William Watson to Martin Folkes27 March 1745
L&P/5/135Letter, 'Of an oil sent from North Carolina by George Brownrigg' from William Watson to the Royal Society1769
L&P/2/268Letter, 'Of phenomena of electricty in vacuo' by William Watson1752
L&P/1/480Paper, 'A sequel to experiments and observations tending to illustrate the nature & properties of electricity' by William Watson1746
L&P/2/222Letter, 'Account of the Bishop of London's garden at Fulham, originally planted by Dr Henry Compton' from William Watson to the Royal Society27 June 1751
L&P/2/2Paper, 'The effects of small-pox on the foetus in utero' by William Watson1749
L&P/2/300Paper, 'On corals' by William Watson1752
L&P/2/14Paper, 'On Benjamin Franklin's electrical experiments' by William Watson1749
L&P/2/221Paper, 'The liquefaction of the blood of Januarius exactly imitated by a chemical preparation in a phial in half an hour; this was placed in front of the P.R.S [President of the Royal Society] at the meeting in a cool room' by William Watson1751
L&P/1/472Letter, 'On the production of salts' from Richard Brocklesby to William Watson1746
L&P/2/35Letter, 'Concerning electricity' from Louis Elizabeth de la Vergne, Count of Tresson to William Watson1749
L&P/1/384Letter, 'Of firing alcohol by electricity' from William Watson to the Royal Society25 April 1745
L&P/2/569Paper, 'Of the syptic agaric' by William Watson 1 February 1755
L&P/3/328Letter, 'Of an abdominal tumour' from John Huxham to William Watson26 March 1758
L&P/7/49/2Plate, 'Blue shark with scale' by William Watson1778
L&P/2/284Paper, 'Of amphyllon and Denataria heptaphylla' by William Watson1752
L&P/2/553Paper, 'Effects of lightning at Plymouth' from John Huxham to William Watson1754
L&P/2/430Paper, 'Thermometric observations at Solekamsky [Solikamsk] by Gregorii Demidoff' by W. Watson' 1753
L&P/2/465Paper, 'Remarks on W. Watson's account of Nollet's letters concerning electricity' by Thomas Birch1753
L&P/3/366Letter, 'A monstrous lamb without a mouth' from John Hawkeens to William Watson10 March 1759
L&P/2/313Letter, 'Concerning vegetable balls from a lake' from William Dixon to William Watson1 June 1752
L&P/4/21Letter, 'Of dislocations' from John Huxham to William Watson11 May 1760
L&P/3/23Letter, 'Of the causes of capillarity' from Etienne Francois Dutour to William Watson21 January 1755
L&P/2/177Letter, 'Of 113 plants in a hortus siccus made in the Caribbee islands' from William Watson to the Royal Society15 November 1750
L&P/2/419Paper, 'An account of Balthasar Sprenger's book 'Opuscula psysico-mathematica'' by William Watson1753
L&P/3/163Paper, 'Report of ashes from a haystack - a kind of potash' by William Watson14 March 1756
L&P/3/202Letter, 'A case of leprosy from birth' from William Oliver to William Watson16 November 1756
L&P/2/510Paper, 'Of the sex of holly; with a note from W. Watson in confirmation' by John Martyn26 July 1754
L&P/2/554Letter, 'Of de Mairan's book' from William Brownrigg to William Watson3 January 1755
L&P/2/532Letter, 'Effects of electrical treatment in Shrewsbury hospital' from Cheney Hart to William Watson5 November 1754
L&P/5/173Letter, 'Of the manna tree and the tarantula' from Domenico Cirillo to William Watson7 February 1770
L&P/2/579Letter, 'Some account of an extraordinary crop of barley at Saragosain Spain' from William Watson to the Royal Society13 February 1755
L&P/3/316Letter, 'Of mines and minerals' from Nicolas de Himsel to William Watson20 September 1757
L&P/3/16Letter, 'On the power of pointed bodies in electricity' from Etienne Francois Dutour to William Watson10 September 1754
L&P/4/409Letter, 'Of Pompey's pillar in Egypt' from Edward Wortley Montagu to William Watson10 October 1767
L&P/5/44Letter, 'Of Mr Miller's experiments on sowing wheat' from William Watson to the Royal Society4 October 1768
L&P/4/106Letter, 'Three surgical cases' from John Huxham to William Watson5 February 1762
L&P/4/383Letter, 'Of the heat of Bath-waters' from John Howard to William Watson1767
L&P/4/307Letter, 'A remarkable emphysema' from John Huxham to William Watson1766
L&P/4/326Letter, 'The poisonous root named no. 315 not Cicuta but Hyoscyamus niger' from J Wilmer to William Watson11 March 1766
L&P/5/82Letter, 'A high tide and bore on 21 January' from John Huxham to William Watson1769
L&P/5/83Letter, 'Of a death from lightning' from J Hinchcliffe to William Watson18 August 1768
L&P/5/72Letter, 'On trees supposed to be indigenous to Great Britain (Oak, chestnut)' from Daines Barrington to William Watson2 January 1769
L&P/5/224Letter, 'On chestnut trees' from Andrew Coltee Ducarel to William Watson25 January 1771
L&P/6/45Letter, 'Of the death of certain lime trees' from Daines Barrington to William Watson25 December 1773
L&P/7/49/1Paper, 'An account of the blue shark' by William Watson1778
L&P/8/132Letter, 'Cases treated by electricity' from J Lane to William Watson4 January 1785
L&P/7/252Letter, 'Of William Herschel's lenses' from William Watson to unknown recipient26 March 1782
L&P/7/71Letter, 'Explosion at Mr Grave's house near Tralee, County Kerry' from Thomas Ryves to William Watson21 November 1778
L&P/8/122/2Letter, 'Of diving' from Anthony Fothergill to William Watson12 November 1784
L&P/2/207Paper, 'On the plant (used in no. 206) being really hyocyanus niger' by William Watson1751
L&P/1/326Letter, 'Report on Mr Lowndes salt' from William Watson to the Royal Society6 December 1744
L&P/2/107Letter, 'Further experiments of the platina' from William Brownrigg to William Watson13 February 1750
L&P/1/288Paper, 'Dutch soldiers poisoned by boil'd Hemlock' by William Watson9 May 1744
L&P/1/294Letter, 'Observations on mushrooms' from William Watson to the Royal Society2 May 1744
L&P/2/335Letter, 'Of extracting electricity from the atmosphere' from Jean Antoine Nollet to William Watson22 July 1752
L&P/3/287Letter, 'Of the effects of the hot weather in July 1757' from John Huxham to William Watson28 January 1758
P/0139Portrait of Watson, Sir William
L&P/1/337Paper, 'Of a undescribed kind of fungus-geaster' by William Watson1744
L&P/2/442Paper, 'An account of Philip Friedrich Gmelin's book 'Flora Sibirica'' by William Watson1753
L&P/2/534Letter, 'Of a large calculus found in a mare' from William Watson to Charles Gray26 July 1754
L&P/3/141Letter, 'A paralytic arm cured by electricity' from Cheney Hart to William Watson20 March 1756
L&P/4/309Letter, 'A journey from Cairo to the written mountains' from Edward Wortley Montagu to William Watson1766
L&P/1/76Letter, 'Some observations on Mr Sutton's invention to extract the foul air from the well and other parts of ships' from William Watson to Martin Folkes4 December 1741
L&P/7/236/2Plate, 'Lamp-micrometer' by W Watson1782
L&P/2/307Letter, 'Of electricity from the clouds, anent the experiments of Franklin' from Jean Antoine Nollet to William Watson6 June 1752
L&P/4/410Letter, 'Meteorological observations at Plymouth and of intense cold there during the winter' from William Watson and John Huxham1767
L&P/3/270Letter, 'Of the efficiency of the Bark in a mortification' from Richard Grindall to William Watson7 December 1757
L&P/3/102Letter, 'Of the case of a man who died after swallowing molten lead at the Eddystone fire' from John Huxham to William Watson31 January 1756
EC/1741/02Watson, Sir William: certificate of election to the Royal Society9 April 1741
L&P/2/212Paper, 'Account of Benjamin Franklin's book, Experiments and Observations on Electricity' by William Watson1751
AP/5/9Unpublished letter and paper, on medical electricity by John BirchJanuary 1787
AP/5/9/2Unpublished letter, on medical electricity from John Birch to Sir William WatsonJanuary 1787
AP/5/9/1Unpublished manuscript, on medical electricity by John BirchJanuary 1787
L&P/2/149Letter, 'Of ash-manna gathered near Naples' from Robert More to William Watson1750
L&P/2/341Letter, 'Of the electricity from clouds' from William Watson to the Royal Society20 December 1752
L&P/2/344Letter, 'On a successful inoculation at Salisbury' from Brown to William Watson1752
L&P/4/357Paper, 'Of three substances mentioned by Arabic physicians - tabasheer, maimaraan, mamithsa' from John Channing to William Watson24 October 1766
L&P/3/173Letter, 'The agitation of the sea at Antigua on Nov 1, as reported by Capt. Affleck R.N.' from Charles Gray to William Watson26 May 1756
L&P/4/226Letter, 'Of protection from lightning' from William Watson to George Parker26 June 1764
L&P/5/92Letter, 'Of a plant lately discovered in the Isle of Skye' from John Hope to William Watson10 April 1769
L&P/5/325Letter, 'On the early cultivation of botany in England, with some particulars of John Tradescant' from Andrew Coltee Ducarel to William Watson2 November 1772
L&P/2/197Paper, 'Of the sex of plants' by William Watson20 February 1751
L&P/2/538Paper, 'Determination of the species of agaric lately used as a syptic' by William Watson1754
L&P/5/106Paper, 'Report on preserving St Paul's Cathedral from the effects of lightning' by the Royal Society Committee7 June 1769
L&P/3/200Paper, 'Account of Gottlob Carl Springsfeld's Latin treatise sent to the Royal Society on dissolving calculi in the bladder; Carldbad water' by William Watson1756
L&P/2/218Paper, 'Criticism of Winkler's paper above [L&P/2/217]' by William Watson1751
L&P/1/159Paper, 'An account of Enumeratio methodica stirprum Helvetiae indigenarum by Albert Haller' by William Watson1742
L&P/3/55Letter, 'Agitation of waters at Devon and Cornwall on Nov 1' from John Huxham to William Watson23 November 1755
L&P/3/275Letter, 'Heat of the air in July 1757' from John Huxham to William Watson19 July 1757
L&P/4/35Letter, 'Translated extracts of a letter on the parallax of the Moon' from Nicolas Louis de La Caille to William Watson1760
L&P/4/137Letter, 'Of electricity in tetanus' from William Watson to the Royal Society9 February 1763
L&P/5/282Letter, 'On roots used by the Indians near Hudsons Bay to dye porcupine quilla' from Johann Reinhold Forster to William Watson10 January 1772
L&P/5/314Letter, 'Of the medical effects of a poisonous plant' from Richard Pulteney to William Watson12 March 1772
L&P/7/184Letter, 'Astronomical observations on the rotations of planets about their axes, in connection with the diurnal motion of the earth' from William Herschel to William Watson18 October 1780
L&P/1/229Letter, 'About Mr Pickering's paper on the seeds of mushrooms' from William Watson to the Royal Society17 November 1743
L&P/2/274Letter, 'Recueil des experiences faites a Venise sur la medicine electrique [List of experiences made in Venice on electric medicine] from Francisco Bianchini' to the Royal Society, by William Watson1752
Add to My Items
    Classified Papers

    Classified Papers

    Useful Links

    Collection highlights

    Browse the records of some of our collections, which cover all branches of science and date from the 12th century onwards. These include the published works of Fellows of the Royal Society, personal papers of eminent scientists, letters and manuscripts sent to the Society or presented at meetings, and administrative records documenting the Society's activities since our foundation in 1660.

    Papers of Robert Boyle
    Papers of Robert Boyle
    Early Letters
    Early Letters
    New Letter Books
    New Letter Books
    Papers of Colin Pillinger
    Papers of Colin Pillinger
    Browse Collections

    The Royal Society

    The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of
    the world's most eminent scientists and is the
    oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
    Registered charity number 207043

    Website design ©CalmView



    CONTACT US

    + 44 207 451 2500
    (Lines open Mon-Fri, 9:00-17:00. Excludes bank holidays)

    6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG

    Email Us →

    SUBSCRIBE

    Subscribe to our newsletters to be updated with the
    latest news on innovation, events, articles and reports.

    Subscribe →

    © CalmView